China Seeks to Entice Overseas Investors

With its two major stock indexes, the Shanghai Composite Index and the Shenzhen Index down 9.7% and 12% respectively so far this year, the two worst-performing indexes in Asia, China is looking to overseas fund managers in an attempt to boost its markets, Bloomberg reports.

As a result, China is going to exempt licensed overseas investors from a capital gains tax and make it easier for them to invest in a number of ways. For one, instead of requiring foreign investors to keep any holdings for a year, they may now sell after three months. In addition, China is increasing the $4 billion limit it had imposed on foreign investors to $10 billion. China also plans to speed up the application process and lower the minimum asset threshold it now requires of foreign investors. Currently, that is $10 billion in assets and an investment commitment of $50 million.